Sources: LiAngelo Ball signs music deal with Def Jam worth $13 million

LiAngelo Ball has signed a deal with Def Jam and Universal Music Group, a representative from his label Born2Ball Music Group says.

Sources told ESPN the deal is worth as much as $13 million, with $8 million guaranteed, and gives Ball full ownership of the music and his own record label. Ball has another song to follow the debut of “Tweaker” in the near future.

Ball, the middle brother of Chicago Bulls guard Lonzo Ball and Charlotte Hornets guard LaMelo Ball, went unselected in the 2018 NBA draft. He signed training camp deals in 2020 (Detroit Pistons), 2021 (Hornets) and 2022 (Hornets) but never made a regular season roster. He averaged 4.4 points, 1.1 rebounds and 13.1 minutes in 31 NBA G League games for the Greensboro Swarm from 2021-23.

But he has since changed his career path to be an artist and musician. Described as having an early 2000s rap and modern hip-hop feel, the song was released on January 3rd on the WorldstarHipHop YouTube page and has achieved nearly 8 million views as of January 13th.

The Ball family is not new to rap. Lonzo has already released a few songs, including “Zo2,” which was used to promote his Big Baller Brand signature shoes. However, LiAngelo’s track is getting a lot more attention, with Lonzo already proclaiming 2025 to be “the year of G(elo).”

Aside from the brotherly love, the song is also attracting a lot of attention from some pretty famous rappers. According to Chart Data, the song entered the top 10 US streaming chart on Spotify on January 8. As of Thursday, the song was at no. 4 — bypassing Tyler, the Creator’s “Sticky” featuring GloRilla, Sexyy Red and Lil Wayne and Kendrick Lamar’s “tv off” featuring Lefty Gunplay — with 1,398,725 plays, according to Spotify.